5 August

Today, we took a bus from Stranraer to Kirkcudbright. We could pronounce towns in Croatia, Germany, France, etc, but now that we're in a supposedly English-speaking land, we find that we cannot read a map. Kirkcudbright is pronounced Curcoobree. At least that's as close as we can get. The two towns are only about 30 miles apart, but it took two buses and about 2.5 hrs to get here. We got at least a quick glimpse of every little burg along the way.

We had to hike around a bit to find our B&B, and the owners were gone when we arrived. We stashed our bags in the back yard, left a note, and went into town. Kirkcudbright is a really nice little town. For over a century, it has been a center for artists, and we visited several local galleries plus a really nice little local museum. We strolled all over town, bought some fantastic almond bar cookies at a bakery for 57 pence each, and took the scenic route back to the B&B via the river bank path.

Our landlords are very nice. They are involved with the Scottish Night festivities held every Thursday night in the summer. There's a show of sorts in the town square with dancers, music, etc. The highlight of the night was a tug of war between the local team, which is undefeated for over forty years, and a group of fourteen visitors recruited from the crowd. It was hilarious when at least 100 little kids stormed the plaza and grabbed the rope. The outsiders tried, but were overwhelmed by the huge number of tiny hands and feet pitted against them. Another highlight was when the Scottish announcer was reading raffle ticket numbers and read the number for a dog ball launcher. Janene looked puzzled and asked, "What did he say?" I knew that she thought he said 'dog bowl launcher' and was picturing a water bowl being flung through the air, but I was laughing too hard to explain for a while.

Stranraer, Scotland

bed of begonias

Janene's turn

Stranraer Community Church graveyard

George Street

Kirkcudbright, Scotland

bus from Stranraer

Tolbooth Jail

High St. Gallery "alley"

MacLellan's Castle

MacLellan's Castle

anchor in Moat Brae park

close-up of anchor plaque

flock of seagulls	more seagulls

Kirkcudbright B&B

Kirkcudbright Summer Festivities

flag parade

Polarbites Fish & Chips

dancers

more dancers

Scottish pipers

Stewartry Area Wind Band

crowds watching school band

Visitors vs Kirkcudbright	Kirkcudbright Tug Team	In memory of loved ones lost at sea
	Wind Band & Pipe Band video (39s, 9.1MB)

Back at the B&B

backyard

park across the street